Little Stef
by Mahanny
Summary: Set in the beginning of season 7. Stefan and Caroline find a little baby who's lost his family and parents.


"Hurry up" Matt said from the driver's seat when Stefan and Caroline got out of the car.

They climbed the steps of the porch of the house and found the door open. It was 9pm though, and all the lights inside the house were turned off. Stefan and Caroline exchanged a look when they both smelled the scent of blood. The heretics had been there for sure.

Stefan went into the house, inadvertently walking on some wooden bars that were on the ground, which belonged to the stairs. Everything was full of rubble, two chairs had fallen to the floor, and there was blood on the walls.

"Oh, no" Caroline said in a whisper, imagining what had happened.

When they stepped forward, the moonlight lit up the stairs, and they could see that these were stained with blood too.

"What the hell happened here?" she asked.

Stefan pointed at the stairs with his head and they went upstairs in silence, following the trail of blood. When they reached the landing, they found the last victims of the heretics. They had been a married couple which only were two bodies covered in blood with their necks broken now.

"Oh my God" Caroline sighed at seeing that horrifying image. Stefan looked at the couple with guilt and crouched in front of them to take a better look.

Then, Caroline heard it: the cry of a baby. Her instinct led her to the room from where the cry was coming and she saw the little one in his crib. Stefan arrived two seconds later and stood behind her.

"They have left him here, alone" Caroline said in disbelief.

Stefan sighed and looked around, wondering what to do. Caroline answered that question.

"We can't leave him here" she said, holding him in her arms. Stefan looked at her in silence. "Stefan…"  
"Yeah, I know…" Stefan finally nodded. "Come on."

Stefan grabbed the crib and followed Caroline to leave the house. When they approached the car, Matt looked at them with a questioning look.

"What the hell are you doing? What…?"  
"I'll explain in a second" Caroline said. Stefan opened the drunk and put the crib inside.  
"Go to my house, I…" Stefan glanced at the house. "I'll take care of…"

She nodded, knowing that he was talking about the bodies. She got in the car and Matt drove to the boarding house.

* * *

"Have you gone… crazy?" Bonnie asked, sitting on the bed of a guest room.

Caroline glanced at her as she rocked the baby in her arms. He yawned with tired eyelids, touching Caroline's hair with his little hand.

"I couldn't leave him there, Bonnie."  
"I know, but…" Bonnie was silent, knowing that Caroline would not change her mind.

She left the baby in the crib once he fell asleep and covered him with his blanket. Stefan walked in in that moment.

"Hey…"  
"Shh, don't talk very loud, he's just fallen asleep" Caroline said.

Stefan nodded and walked over to the crib. He stood next to Caroline and they both stared at the baby. Bonnie looked at them from the bed, realizing that they seemed to be sharing an intimate moment without realizing it, so she decided to leave the room silently to leave them alone.

"I wonder what his name is" Caroline said in a whisper.  
"I don't know… What name do you like?"

Caroline looked at Stefan with a shy smile and shook her head.

"I can't name him as if he was a pet" she said.  
"I know, but…" Stefan tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, unable to control himself any longer, and Caroline blushed. "We have to call him somehow while he's here."

Caroline looked at the baby, thinking about it. He watched her, realizing the spark in her eyes, the one that had appeared since they had found the baby. He did not want to use him as an excuse to get closer to Caroline, but it was hard when she was acting so cute, showing her maternal instinct for the first time.

"What do you think of _little Stef_?" she asked with raised eyebrows.  
Stefan looked at her for a moment with narrowed eyes and she laughed.  
"So, you'll stay here while we take care of him?" he asked, pointing at the bed with his head.  
"If you don't mind" she said. "The more of us, the better, right?"

Stefan nodded.

* * *

Caroline entered the house and left the keys and bag on the counter of the hall in a hurry. She headed for the stairs, but stopped when she saw Damon sitting on the couch, giving her a withering look.

"Don't tell me you're still mad" Caroline said, rolling her eyes.  
"Why should I? Maybe because you've brought a one-year-old baby to my house? A baby that is growing up, crying at night, doing nothing but crawling around the house, and drooling all the time?"

Caroline wanted to throw some of the vases to his head, but she repressed the urge.

"Think about the positive side! When Elena wakes up, you'll have learned something about babies. Remember that she wants a family" she said.  
"Get away from my view, blondie."

Caroline gave him a fake smile and went upstairs. She peeked into her room, but Stef was not there. She suddenly got scared, but then thought that there was no reason. Stefan's door was half open and she was able to see him with the baby through the slit.

She pushed the door gently to not make any noise and watched silently and secretly. Stefan was rocking the baby in his arms to make him fall asleep. Caroline thought that it was a too much moving image to interrupt it. Stefan could not have children, but he was good at taking care of them. It was not fair. And she, she felt that she was melting at looking at them.

She startled when Stefan noticed her presence and looked at her.

"What are you doing there?" he asked with a little smile.  
"Er…" Caroline went in and walked over to him. "I was just watching. I didn't want to make any noise and wake him up."  
"Every time you go to Whitmore, he gets nervous. He starts crying in the crib and… I thought it'd be a good idea to rock him."  
"You're good at it" she said, barely touching his arm with hers. "But, of course, that doesn't surprise me."

Stefan laughed, shaking his head.

"Have you… talked to Matt?"

Always the same question. She knew that he did not ask it to hurt her, or to induce her to hurry, but for her own sake. Stefan enjoyed the child as much as her, and he knew how Caroline had grown fond of him, but he did not want her to grow fond of him too much and therefore have a bad time once they had to say goodbye to him.

"Yeah, uh… He's got in touch with several adoption centers. I've asked him to look for the best candidates. I think he'll have a list soon."

* * *

Stefan and Damon came home after a long day in which they had to track down their mother and the heretics to stop them from killing more people.

"But why?" Damon asked, taking his jacket off after closing the door.  
"Because we can't do that" Stefan said.  
"Since she arrived, she hasn't done anything but give us trouble."  
"We'll find another solution" Stefan said, determined. "We're not going to kill her, Damon, she's our moth-"

Stefan froze and forgot what he was saying when he saw Caroline with the baby in the living room, both of them on the carpet. He was sat, wearing only a diaper, and Caroline was lying face down next to him, leaning on her elbows and playing with the toys that she had bought for him.

Stefan felt a spiral in his stomach. He had already seen her with the baby several times, but that image captivated him completely.

"Stefan, are you listening to me?" Damon asked. Stefan did not answer, watching how the baby was laughing and Caroline let out a laugh. Damon realized and snorted. "Stefan, stop."

He finally reacted and looked at his brother.

"Stop what?" he asked.  
"Looking at her as if you were about to ask her to marry you, getting attached to the kid, and thinking that you are a family."

Stefan clenched his jaw and stared at the floor.

"Caroline will have a bad time once you have to say goodbye to him, and I bet you will too. It's a cute bubble, but it's not real" he said. "And you know that you can't keep him. That child needs a real family" Damon patted Stefan's back and headed for the kitchen.

Although Damon had been too direct, Stefan knew that deep down he was right. However, he could not help but want to enjoy those little moments before they came to an end.

He walked over to them and Caroline looked up at him.

"Hey" she said with a smile.  
"Hey" Stefan stroked the baby's head to greet him and the little one squeezed Stefan's pants with his fingers. "Everything okay around here?"  
"Oh, you know, Stef has forced me to play with him" Caroline said, shrugging. Stefan dropped on the couch and looked at her, amused.  
"He has forced you? Are you sure you haven't been the one who has forced him to play with you?"

Caroline rolled her eyes and sat beside him.

"What about Lily?" she asked.  
"No bodies to take care of today, fortunately" he said.

Caroline nodded and suddenly stood straight, putting a serious face. Stefan looked at her with a frown.

"We need to talk" she said. Stefan, helplessly, felt hopeful. It had been several months since he had told her that he would wait. Maybe she was ready. "Although I should tell you off."  
"Of what am I guilty?" Stefan asked.

Caroline leaned her back against the couch and looked at him.

"I caught you the other day" she said.  
"Doing what?"  
"You let him sleep in your bed" Caroline said, pointing at the baby.  
"Oh, that."  
"Yes, you can't spoil him like that!" Caroline slapped him in the arm. Stefan looked at her with raised eyebrows and put his arm over her shoulder.  
"Are you seriously telling me off for spoiling him after you've bought almost every toy of the toy shop and a customized pacifier for him?" he asked with a hint of a smile, his face increasingly close to hers.  
"It's not the same thing than letting him sleep in your bed! Now he'll want to do it every day" she said.  
"Look, if you are jealous and want to sleep with us, you just have to say it" he said playfully.

They both were smiling like idiots in love. Stefan looked into her eyes and then at her lips. Caroline blushed and looked down to his, feeling butterflies in the stomach. He sighed helplessly and, still hanging his arm over her shoulder, touched her curls with his fingertips. Caroline did not want to run away, not this time. She moved closer to him, thinking about how much she wanted to kiss him. But then she screamed and jumped on the couch, scaring and startling Stefan as well.

"What?! What happened?" he exclaimed.  
"Look!" Caroline pulled the collar of his shirt and pointed at the baby. He was trying to stand up. "Oh my God, oh my God" she stood up, hysterical, and pulled Stefan to make him stand up too. "He's going to take his first steps here, with us" Caroline clapped and jumped with enthusiasm.

Stefan smiled, shook his head, and put his hands on his hips. Damon came briskly with an anxious face.

"What's going on? What are those screams for?" he asked.  
"Damon!" Caroline said. "Go get the camera!"  
"Why?" he asked.  
"He's going to take his first steps" Stefan said.  
"Oh, shit! Okay, okay, I'll get it."

Damon sped to his room. Stefan and Caroline watched the baby silently as he was staggering.

"He's going to do it, he's going to do it" she said, squeezing Stefan's arm hard due to her excitement. "Damon!"  
"I'm coming!" Damon came in a micro second with the camera ready and started to record.

The baby took a step and then another one. Then he looked at Caroline and Stefan and laughed, releasing bubbles of saliva from his mouth. They smiled and Caroline stretched her arms toward him.

"Come on, come here" She said.

The baby was about to fall, but managed to walk slowly toward her, staggering. Finally, he reached her arms and Caroline raised him in the air.

"Well done!" she said. "You've won another bottle of milk."

Caroline looked at Stefan with a wide smile and he could not help but smile back at her. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and Stefan froze, staring at her with his mouth half open. Damon looked up from the camera at them, shaking his head.

"I'm going to…" Caroline cleared her throat and looked away shyly. "I'm going to the kitchen."

Damon stopped recording, Stefan nodded and Caroline left the living room with the baby. Stefan looked at Damon, who was staring at him with a frown.

"How cute" he said.  
"Stop."  
"Stefan, you have to…"  
"I know, okay? I know."

* * *

Caroline was rocking him in her arms frantically, trying to put the pacifier in his mouth as he cried. It was 4 in the morning, and apparently, Stef had had a nightmare in the middle of the night, since he had suddenly started to cry.  
Damon opened the door and looked at Caroline with wide eyes and messy hair.

"Blondie, for God's sake, keep him quiet" he said. "It's 4 in the morning, you two don't let me sleep!"  
"What do you think I'm doing, Damon? It's not as easy as it looks, you know? Or do you want to try?"  
"No, thanks."  
"Hey, what's going on?" Stefan came into the room.  
"He… He doesn't stop crying" Caroline said. Stefan walked over to them and took the aby in his arms.  
"Let's go to my bedroom, maybe if we walk him a little…"

Stefan and Caroline left the room, but not before Caroline and Damon exchanged a withering look. She closed the door of Stefan's bedroom behind her and he left the baby on the bed.

"You're going to let him get away with it again?" Caroline asked.  
"Oh, come on…" Stefan gave her an affectionate pinch in the waist and she rolled her eyes.

Stefan sat on one side of Stef and Caroline on the other, but he kept sobbing from time to time.

"Sing to him" Stefan said.  
"What?"  
"I can't think of another way to make him calm down."

Caroline sighed and lay down. Stefan turned off the light and did the same. She began to sing softly.

"This is embarrassing" she said, covering her face with her hands.  
"Come on, it's working" Stefan said, as the baby no longer sobbed. The only thing they heard was his breathing.

The next morning, Bonnie opened the door carefully to not make any noise and smiled at the image in front of her. Stefan and Caroline were sleeping –his arm was stretched above her head, brushing her hair with his fingers- and Stef was between them, awake and clapping.

"Bonnie, what…?" Damon walked in but Bonnie gestured to make him quiet.  
"Give me that" she said, pointing at the photo camera on Stefan's desk.

Damon sighed and put the camera in her hands.

"They have to stop doing this" Damon said, folding his arms and watching them.

Bonnie took a picture.

"They're the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life."

Damon pursed his lips. Deep down, he was thinking exactly the same thing.

* * *

Caroline was sitting on her bed with one of Stef's pacifiers in her hand. She was looking at it with a hint of nostalgia in her eyes. She looked up at where his crib had been until the previous day.

The door was half open, but Stefan decided to knock with his knuckles gently. She looked at him for a brief second and then looked away, blinking several times to control the tears that were threatening to fall.

Stefan walked over to her and sat next to her, watching the pacifier in her hand.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Caroline nodded, but said nothing.

Stefan placed a hand on the small of her back to soothe her.

"I knew that the day would come, but…" she shrugged and bit her lip, feeling a knot in her throat.  
"I know" Stefan said. He knew that at that moment, words would not help much, but he wanted to try. "But I'm sure he won't forget all the times you made him laugh."

Caroline nodded, trying not to cry. Stefan took her hand and interlaced their fingers. She looked up to meet his eyes.

"I feel lucky" he said. Caroline stared at him silently, waiting for him to continue. "It's been fun being parents for a few weeks, it's been… great" Stefan caressed the back of her hand with his thumb. She smiled softly, with sadness in her eyes.

Stefan gave her a kiss on the cheek and Caroline closed her eyes, knowing that someday she would not feel so sad. Healing was a matter of time, as always. She dropped her head on his shoulder and he hugged her tightly, burying his nose in her hair.


End file.
